Disclaimer: Saban owns rights to the power rangers, I just have a laptop and ideas.
A/N: Special Thanks to Ghostwriter and Brankel, who have consistently encouraged me as I've written this. We're almost to the finish line!
Chapter 10 – By Your Side
*Power Chamber*
"TO GET TO THE NEMESIS TRIANGLE, YOU WILL NEED NEW POWERS," Zordon's voice boomed. Tommy still seemed to be shaken from seeing Kimberly, and Kat noticed. They had tried to mount a rescue, taking Lerigot to exchange him for their friends. However, they had been tricked by Divatox, and gave up Lerigot while she still had Jason and Kim. With all of the emotions invading his mind, Tommy finally seemed to come to his senses when Zordon had mentioned this.
"New powers?" He asked. " How can we get them? And what will this do to the Zeo powers?"
"FORTUNATELY, I HAD BILLY WORKING ON THESE POWERS BEFORE HE LEFT FOR AQUITAR. THEY WILL BE ACCESSED THROUGH THE KEYS TO YOUR ZORDS."
"Keys?" Adam asked.
"YES, YOU ARE NOW GAINING YOUR TURBO MORPHERS, ALONG WITH YOUR TURBO ZORDS." At this point, the doors at the back of the power chamber opened, revealing the five cars that would be their new zords.
"But Zordon, where's the sixth?" Kat asked. "Where's Jason's?"
"Unfortunately, Billy only made five Turbo morphers," Alpha explained.
"SADLY, WITH THE CHANGE OF THE POWERS, JASON'S GOLD RANGER POWERS WILL BE RENDERED USELESS."
"Wait, why?" Tanya asked.
"When we tied the Gold Ranger powers to the Zeo Crystal, it bonded with it so that if we took the Zeo Crystal off the morphing grid, we would lose those powers forever. To access the Turbo powers, we need to use the remaining energy in the Zeo Crystal to energize them."
"Couldn't we hope that Jason is able to morph and take them all on?" Rocky asked. "I mean, he's one of the best fighters, couldn't he do that?"
"Maybe, but I'm not willing to risk it," Tommy spoke up. "We need to go after them. Zordon, let's do it." The conviction in his voice was unwavering, focused more than the rangers had seen in many months.
'You still love... no, you're just concerned...'Kat thought, wrestling in her mind about Tommy's sudden change of demeanor.
*Maligore's Volcano*
The rangers had traveled far from Angel Grove, taking the boat that their Turbo Morphers accessed. It moved through to the Nemesis Triangle with ease, and Tommy had directed them flawlessly, even fighting new henchmen named Putrapods. Even when Divatox had threatened their safety with torpedoes destroying their ship, they were able to escape in their zords, driving through the water to the edge of the island. But as everyone else followed Tommy's lead, Kat continued to question him in her mind, particularly as she saw his drive to reach Kim. They found a secret passageway at the base of the volcano, and followed Tommy through it. That's where he saw them, hanging over a pit of lava.
"Kim..." Tommy said under his breath. "Ok guys, this is it. Let's go now!" The new Turbo Rangers debuted in front of Divatox and her minions, as well as Maligore's worshippers.
"Who invited you!" Divatox shouted.
"We did!" She turned to see Jason smiling as he spoke. "Rangers, this is Divatox. Divatox, this is your worst nightmare!"
"Ha!" Divatox cackled. "Lower them into the volcano!" Both Jason and Kim gasped as she began to lower them in.
"I'll get the wheel!" Rocky said, running over to where they were lowering Jason and Kim into the pit of lava. As Rocky fought through piranhatrons, the other rangers engaged the rest of their foes. The fight was fierce, as Divatox's henchmen were much stronger than the cogs of the Machine Empire. However, the speed that the rangers now had due to the Turbo powers negated the extra power. As they continued to fight, Adam noticed that Rocky had successfully fought through to get to the wheel, and was able to pull Jason and Kim higher using it.
"Rocky, lower them just enough so they can put their feet on the edge of the pit. I can untie them!" Adam said.
"You got it!" He lowed them down enough to where Adam could get a hold of the rope.
"Kat, Tanya, hold them off so I can get them down!"
"Got it!" Tanya said. Kat nodded, who looked over to Tommy who was in a fierce fight with Elgar.
"There," Adam said, "you should be good to go!" Jason and Kim were able to hop down, and they never thought they would be so happy to stand on solid ground!
"Thanks bro," Jason said.
"Yeah Adam, you and Rocky really saved our butts," Kim said with a faint smile. Just as Adam was about to speak, he heard a blood-curdling scream. The three looked over, and Elgar had obviously switched from fighting Tommy to Rocky, as his sword protruded from Rocky's chest! "ROCKY!"
"No!" Adam said, running over and kicking Elgar, causing the sword to come out of Rocky, which then caused him to collapse, demorphing in the process. Rocky was writhing in pain, but the injury didn't seem fatal, as it seemed to pierce only the muscle tissue, missing the lungs and heart. "I think you're going to be all right, but you're done fighting for the day."
"Whatever," Rocky choked out. "It... it's just a flesh wound."
"Seriously, you're quoting that now?" Adam said shaking his head. "Of all the times to joke around, you pick now?"
"Hey, gotta lighten the mood somehow." At that moment, an explosion hit, causing everyone to turn around towards the lava pit. Divatox had thrown Elgar into the pit, and what had started as an explosion turned into an earthquake.
"Umm... I don't think that's good," Adam said.
"No kidding," Jason said.
"Jason, take my morpher," Rocky said, slipping it off his wrist.
"Rocko, you can't do that, you need your powers to heal!" Jason replied.
"If you don't take the powers, we won't stand a chance against Maligore! Come on man, Kim can take care of me!"
"That's presuming a lot," she quipped.
"Are you sure I can take the powers with Gold Ranger powers as well?" Jason asked
"The Gold Ranger powers are defunct, they had to be cut off for us to get the Turbo powers," Adam replied.
"Kim, you're sure you're able to watch him?" Jason asked.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything dumb," she joked.
"You know... if I had the strength, I'd..."
"Save it, Rock," Adam interrupted. "Jason, just put the key into the morpher, and you're good to go."
"Thanks!" He said, putting the key into the morpher, transforming into the Blue Turbo Ranger. He and Adam ran back to the others, now seeing the monster that Divatox had summoned to be her husband.
"Yikes, she wants to marry that thing?" Tanya questioned, seeing the now fully apparent lava monster in front of them.
"How do we summon our weapons?" Jason asked. "I think we're going to need them."
"Let's do it!" Tommy shouted.
*Angel Grove, CA*
The rangers traveled back with Rocky and Kim in the Turbo Megazord once they had defeated Maligore. They didn't know what would happen with Divatox, but at least for now it seemed that she wouldn't pose too much trouble. Jason stayed on to become the Blue Turbo Ranger while Rocky recovered from the injury he sustained from Elgar. He also convinced Kim to stay for a couple days since he and Tommy were competing in a karate competition that weekend. He had hoped they could at least talk, but throughout the weekend that she was in Angel Grove he knew that it wasn't going to happen. Kim avoided both Tommy and Kat like the plague. She didn't even congratulate the pair when they won the competition. Jason had met Kim in the Youth Center, knowing she wanted to return to Florida. They sat at the normal table, right in front of Ernie's counter, where silence reigned for what seemed like hours. Finally, Kim broke the silence.
"I can't come back, can I?"
"What do you mean?" Jason asked. "You're always welcome here. My folks have extra rooms if you need a place to stay."
"You know what I mean Jase," Kim looked at him, rolling her eyes in a perturbed fashion. "It's not going to be the same. It never will be. Maybe I should stay in Florida, try to make a life of it down there. I've lost my excitement for competing, but I could do something down there."
"You tried making a life down there once, and all you did was make yourself miserable," Jason replied honestly.
"So what am I supposed to do?" She asked. "Never try to have a normal life?"
"No, but you can stop running away." Jason's tone had become more serious, and it showed on Kimberly's face. "Look, I don't mean this to be harsh, but do you think it's easy for me to stay here when I've lost our entire group of friends? You're not the only one who's struggling here. But we need to move on. We need to press in, work at the relationships we've got, and be thankful for that."
"My one great relationship is gone, Jason."
"So your friendship with me doesn't count? What about Adam and Rocky? Hell, I bet Tommy AND Kat would want your friendship if you gave them half a chance. But you're not, Kim." The words he spoke to her seemed to actually be sinking in, as Kim refused to respond, but rather contemplated what he said. After a while she spoke up again.
"I need some time to think," she said. "Look, I appreciate everything you and the others did... you know, saving my life and all. But I need some time to think on what you said."
"Ok... but I'm going to hold you to that," Jason replied.
"I know you will," she grinned. "Maybe we can get out of here and teleport back to Miami."
"Sure thing."
*Hillard Residence – 5 days later*
"I don't understand," Kat said, clearly upset as she spoke with Tommy. He had just been contracted as a rookie race car driver by his Uncle, and his first race was only a few weeks away. The problem was that it conflicted with Senior Prom. "Can't you tell your Uncle that this is important to you? That prom is a higher priority."
"Kat, I really want to go with you, but this is an opportunity to see if this is a possible career for me," Tommy reasoned. "Driving the turbo zords really opened my eyes to how much I loved driving, this could be huge for me. I'm sorry Kat, but I'm going to have to pass."
"I... it's fine," she lied, but Tommy didn't pick up on it.
"I promise I'll make it up to you," Tommy replied. He looked down at his watch and looked startled. "Well, it's getting late. I'm sorry again about this, but I couldn't get this moved. I'll see you tomorrow at school."
"Goodbye," Kat said weakly as Tommy walked out the door. 'You would have moved this for Kimberly,' she thought as a tear came to her eye.
To Be Continued...
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- Googz333